Johnson blows third straight save as Yanks top O's

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Baltimore, MD (Sports Network) - Vernon Wells doubled home the go-ahead run in
the top of the 10th inning, and the New York Yankees extended Baltimore's
recent woes with a 6-4 win over the Orioles in the opener of a three-game
series at Camden Yards.

The Yankees belted four solo home runs, with the last one by Travis Hafner
tying the game in the ninth. The one-out blast to left field was served up by
Baltimore closer Jim Johnson, who suffered his third consecutive blown save
after converting a club-record 35 straight.

After David Robertson (3-0) shut down the Orioles in the bottom of the ninth,
New York quickly jumped on Pedro Strop (0-2).

Ichiro Suzuki ripped a pitch into the right-field corner for a leadoff double
and Wells followed with a hit that bounced over the left-field wall. Wells
later scored on a two-out single by Hafner.

Mariano Rivera tossed a flawless bottom of the 10th to collect his 17th save
of the season.

Robinson Cano, David Adams and Lyle Overbay also homered for the Yankees, who
have won three straight games and 10 of their last 13.

Baltimore has lost a season-high six in a row. The Orioles have also dropped
seven straight at home for the first time since an 11-game slide Aug. 22-Sept.
7, 2007.

"We have a challenge ahead of us," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "But
our guys will turn the page, show up and be ready."

The Orioles entered the home half of the seventh down 3-2 after Overbay
homered off freshly inserted Troy Patton to open the top of the inning. Patton
had relieved starter and former Yankee Freddy Garcia, who was removed despite
only throwing 66 pitches.

Alexi Casilla led off the bottom of the frame with a single and scored the
tying run when Nick Markakis placed a double in the left-center field gap. Two
batters later, J.J. Hardy drove an offering from New York starter CC Sabathia
down the right-field line for a run-scoring double.

Garcia, who pitched for the Yankees the past two seasons, only allowed three
hits -- two of which were homers -- in his six-inning outing. Sabathia was
tagged for four runs on a season-high 11 hits in 6 1/3 innings.

The first three hits of the game were solo home runs. Cano took Garcia deep to
left-center field in the opening frame, and Adams' first major league blast, a
liner just inside the left-field foul pole, made it 2-0 New York in the
second.

"It was special," Adams said of his first homer.

Chris Davis put Baltimore on the board in its half of the second, then
Markakis tied things up in the fifth with an RBI single.

Game Notes

The Yankees improved to 19-0 when scoring first this season ... New York also
won for the first time in 2013 when trailing after eight innings (1-16) ...
Suzuki has now hit safely in each of his last 20 games at Camden Yards ...
Reid Brignac made his Yankees debut, going 0-for-2 and playing shortstop.
Brignac was acquired from Colorado in exchange for cash considerations on
Saturday ... The Yankees took two of three from the Orioles at home last
month.

204roots

236 The Yankees were getting blown out during the preseason, and now they're 1st in the AL East? Awesome comeback.